1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical connectors and more particularly to such an optical connector with improved characteristics including higher coupling efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, laser diodes are used as a light source element or detection elements are used as a light reception element in the current optical communication system. The laser diodes are encapsulated to form a laser diode element and the detection elements are encapsulated to form a light detection element respectively. Either laser diode element or light detection element can be coupled to the bottom of an optical connector to form either a light emitting module or a light reception module by laser welding. The section of a conventional optical connector is shown in FIG. 1. The connector comprises a hollow, cylindrical shroud 1, a sleeve 2 coaxially fitted in the shroud 1, a cylinder 3 coaxially fitted in a lower part of the sleeve 2 so as to form a first space 4 for mounting an optical fiber connector therein and a second space 5 between the shroud 1 and the cylinder 3, and a ring 6 fitted in the second space 5 by means of rivets, resulting in a fastening of the shroud 1 and the cylinder 3. Also, a bottom of the cylinder 3 is shaved to form a slope 7 which is adapted to prevent reflected light from directly impinging on a laser diode element. Otherwise, the laser diode element may be interfered by noise.
An optical fiber 8 is coaxially fitted in the cylinder 3 so that light emitted from the laser diode element is focused on the core of the optical fiber 8. The focused light is then directed to the optical fiber of the optical fiber connector 8.
However, the prior art suffered from several disadvantages. For example, for increasing coupling efficiency of the optical connector light emitted from the laser diode has to travel a relatively long distance prior to reaching the optical fiber 8 for focusing on the core thereof. As such, the cylinder 3 will adversely increase space between the laser diode and the optical fiber and increase the loss of optical energy. Further, it may cause inconvenience in operation. Furthermore, the manufacturing cost is relatively high because both the sleeve 2 and the cylinder 3 are made of ceramic materials. Moreover, the sleeve 2 tends to slip while plugging or unplugging the optical connector. In addition, allowances of many constituent components may accumulate, resulting in a degradation of electrical characteristics. Hence, a need for improvement exists.